Various attempts have been made in the past to automate the handling of metal coils, as well as the peeling away of the initial turns or wraps of the coils from the main bodies of the coils and subsequently threading the same through rolling mill entry rolls as illustrated, for example, by the coil handling equipment of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,150,706; 3,187,530; 3,746,229; 3,010,672; 2,965,329; 2,280,564; 2,266,067; 2,762,418; and 4,091,649. The instant "no slack" coil handling system constitutes an improvement over the prior coil handling systems as represented by the above patents by substantially completely eliminating the necessity of any manual coil handling from the time a metal coil is initially handled by the system until the peeled leading end is subsequently threaded through the entry rolls of a metal gauge reducing rolling mill, such as a cold rolling mill. In other words, while in the past there were usually some requirements for manual handling of a coil which could interrupt or disrupt various operations in a mill facility, the instant coil handling system is designed to avoid such disruptions and minimize or eliminate manual handling of a coil. Furthermore, the quality deterioration within the body of the coil due to friction or "take up"scratches normally caused by loosening and tightening of the leading end in conventional coil handling arrangements and which can lead to metal rejection is eliminated despite the wide range of coil diameters that the mill may process. Attempts in the past to achieve similar "no slack" peeling and holding of the leading end of a metal coil have usually resulted in the utilization of complex and expensive equipment that is generally located in line with the mill and not readily accessible for troubleshooting and maintenance during mill operation. The coil handling system of the invention avoids the complex equipment of the past without at the same time, however, endangering metal quality, consistency or efficiency in mill operation regardless of the different sizes of coils handled by the equipment for a given mill.